U.S. Slams Middle East On Rights
The U.S. State Department on Monday criticized the human rights records of the American friends and foes in the Middle East.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran were among the countries in the region described as having poor rights records in the annual report on rights conditions worldwide last year.
The department also said Israeli security forces abused Palestinian detainees and that conditions in some detention and interrogation facilities remained poor. It also said the Palestinian Authority "continued to commit numerous serious abuses."
As he begins his second term as president, President Bush has promised to work for greater freedom worldwide, with a special emphasis on the Middle East. Critics, though, say Mr. Bush has ignored abuses by countries with close relations to the United States.
The report cited serious problems in Egypt and Jordan, both major recipients of U.S. foreign aid. In Jordan, it noted the inability of citizens to change their government, reports of torture and other mistreatment of detainees, a lack of due process in the judicial system, significant restrictions on free speech and press, and violence against women and children.
It criticized Egypt's use of military courts to try civilians, the torture of prisoners, and restrictions on freedoms of press, assembly and religion.
It also said Egyptians lacked meaningful ability to change their government. Over the weekend, President Hosni Mubarak promised to hold multi-candidate elections.
Some human rights progress was made in Saudi Arabia, but serious problems remain, the report said. It cited arbitrary arrests and a lack of legal protections, restrictions on free speech, assembly, religion and movement, and a lack of democracy.
Similar problems were noted in the United Arab Emirates, where the report criticized the abuse of foreign domestic servants in a country where 98 percent of the private sector work force is foreign.
Conditions in Iran, the main U.S. adversary in the region, worsened, the report said. It criticized summary executions, disappearances, torture and other abuses of detainees and restrictions of basic freedoms. It said reformist politicians were prosecuted or threatened with jail for statements made under parliamentary immunity.
The report said that "vigilante groups, with strong ties to certain members of the government, enforced their interpretation of appropriate social behavior through intimidation and violence."
The Syrian government, which has had increasingly tense relationship with the Bush administration, "continued to commit numerous, serious abuses." It cited a lack of democracy, abuse of detainees, restrictions in basic freedoms and discrimination against Kurds and women.
In Iraq, where an interim government is supported by U.S. troops, the report offers a mixed picture. It said the "government's human rights performance was handicapped by a serious insurgency in which a terrorist campaign of violence impacted every aspect of life."
While noting reports of "arbitrary deprivation of life," torture and poor prison conditions, the report praised government's progress toward achieving civil liberties.
"While major problems still remained, they were of a far different magnitude and nature than previously," under former President Saddam Hussein, it said.